1. Turnover Margin
If the Texans are going to win on the road this week, or any week for that matter, they will have to win the turnover battle. For the season, Houston owns a -9 turnover ratio versus Jacksonville’s +5. Its no surprise that only one team out of the 15 that have a positive ratio has a losing record (Arizona). On the road this year, the Texans have committed 10 turnovers compared to only 3 by their opponents, two of which came in the Colts loss. This discrepancy is the major reason that they are 0-4 on the road in 2006 and it’s a trend they will have to reverse.

2. Bottling Up Taylor and Jones-Drew
Taylor and Jones-Drew make life simple for their quarterback, regardless of who it is. The Jaguars’ running game is 6th best in the NFL and the two combine for an average of 119 yards per game. They are both dual threats out of the backfield, tallying 35 receptions, 327 yards and a pair of touchdowns between the two of them. Their total of 1,280 all-purpose yards represents 52.6% of the Jaguars total offense and they average 5.31 yards every time they touch the football. In the Jaguars loss to the Texans earlier this season, they were held in check for the most part. They averaged 3.9 yards per carry and caught 8 balls for 77 yards. The biggest impact out of the backfield was a negative one. The Texans turned Fred Taylor’s third quarter fumble into seven points and Jacksonville never recovered.

3. Quick Start from the Texans
During the Texans first meeting with the Jaguars, the defense stifled Jacksonville’s offense in the first half to the tune of five punts in as many possessions. In those five drives, they ran just 20 plays and gained a total of 71 yards. In this week’s contest, there is little doubt that the Jaguars will rely heavily on their ground game right out of the gate. It will be the defense’s responsibility to keep the Jaguars off of the scoreboard early and provide David Carr and the offense the opportunity to force David Garrard to play catch up.